Going Home
by Miss Enthusiasimal
Summary: When a time travelling device goes wrong Castle, Beckett, Alexis, Esposito and Ryan are thrown into the future they find out Castle's past- but will they trust him enough to let him help them get home?
1. Chapter 1

Castle had just sat down when it happened.

"Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds. You are to come with us."

He could feel their eyes on his back. He took a deep breath and stood slowly, Beckett looked at him curiously.

"Castle-"

Then in one swift motion he grabbed Beckett's sidearm and swung round to face the two Alliance men. They too had their guns pointed at his chest.

Why? Why would they come for him now, after all these years? Well, at least he could be thankful that there weren't many people in the station. If this turned into a shoot off less people would be hurt. Actually, the only people here were Beckett and the boys. They were all working late on a case, but when had everyone else left? But now was not the time to think about this, he had to focus.

"_Put your gun down Sergeant_," one of the officers said in Chinese. They had obviously realized that he had changed his name and had switched languages to avoid suspicion.

"_Not happening officer_," he said, "_What's all this about? I'm out of harms way here. Why is the Alliance sending two important looking guys on a no return trip for little old me, eh?_"

"Castle what's going on? Give me my gun. Officer's put your weapons down," ordered Beckett but they ignored her.

"_Put your gun down Sergeant Reynolds_," repeated the Officer.

"_It's just Richard Castle now actually. Now what are you doing here? Unless…the Alliance has found a way to travel forward in time as well as back? Oh that is brilliant. But why would you come and get me? Unless something's happened back home?_"

Apparently they'd had enough of this chatter. They pointed at Ryan and Esposito who had drawn their guns and had been pointing that at the floor, unsure who's side to be on because they couldn't understand.

"Officers. Please direct you're guns at this man. He is to be brought into our custody," said an Officer.

Ryan and Esposito looked at each other, then at Castle and slowly they began to point their guns at him. He didn't blame them. After all they had to follow orders and didn't understand the situation. Beckett began to back away from Castle, unsure what else to do. He supposed he looked like the bad guy to them, after all he had drawn his (or rather Beckett's) gun first and he was resisting arrest.

When all of this was happening though he had never looked away from the Officers. If he did-

"Dad!" cried Alexis from the doorway behind him. His head snapped back in reaction and then BANG! One of the Officers fired off a shot. It went through his shoulder but the only thing he could think to do was to tackle her to the ground to make sure she was safe. Dammit! He hadn't wanted to drag her into this!

Sheltering behind Beckett's desk he did the only thing he knew, he shot back. He could hear Beckett shouting and Ryan and Esposito too, but he ignored them. He could feel blood running down his shoulder but he ignored that too. Soon the Officers were shooting back but he had the advantage. He'd been in fire fights before, they, obviously, hadn't.

He peered over the desk and fired another shot, taking down one Officer. He heard the other man swear in Chinese and continue to fire. He felt a tugging on his injured arm and saw Alexis pulling at his arm.

"Dad what are you doing! Stop!" she shouted.

And he did. He was scaring his Alexis. But still he had to stop them. They knew he had a daughter now. She was in danger if they ever caught them.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," he said, kissing her forehead.

"Sergeant Reynolds, you are to come with me immediately to Alliance headquarters and await your punishments for the crimes you have committed. I am placing you under arrest."

He took a deep breath.

"I really am sorry," he whispered, and fast as lightning he peered around the edge of the desk and fired off one shot, which took the remaining Officer by surprise and got him straight in the chest. He was dead before he hit the ground.

When he stood up fully it was to see Ryan, Esposito and Beckett (who had managed to find a gun, it would seem) pointing their guns at him. They all had steely looks in their eyes. He looked at Alexis, the food that she had brought him was scattered on the floor. She looked terrified and was crying.

"Castle, put the gun down," said Beckett.

"Can't do that Kate," he said.

"Why not Castle? You planning on shooting us too?" asked Esposito.

"Of course not, guys. I wouldn't shoot you-"

"Well, you seemed to have no problem shooting them," said Beckett.

He ignored her. Instead he turned to Alexis who immediately stepped back, which made him wince.

"I'm so sorry, Alexis," he said, letting some of his accent through. "You don't have to point those at me ya know. I'll be out of yer hair soon enough."

"Castle you are under arrest for-"

"Yeah, yeah. Killing these guys. Right. Now Kate, take care of Alexis. Promise me you'll take care of her," he said.

"Wait! Dad, where are you going?" asked Alexis.

"Somewhere," was his answer as he took off the time travelling device from the man and putting it on himself.

"Whoa, whoa! Dude, what is that?" asked Esposito.

"It's a device that will allow me to return home," he said, fiddling with some knobs.

"Home?"

"Well not 'home' exactly. But someplace that used to be home. It's a really long story."

"Castle if you don't put that gun down right now-"

"Well. I probably won't be seeing you. I love you Alexis," said Castle and he flicked a switch and all was black.

F_I_R_E_F_L_Y_C_A_S_T_L_E

When he woke, he was on the ground, but he wasn't alone. Around him were the unconscious bodies of Beckett, Ryan, Esposito and Alexis. But that didn't make sense. Only he should have moved through time, not them! Looking around he saw he was on _Ariel_, which was just peachy considering that it was an Alliance planet and he was surrounded by unconscious people. He had to move them. If the Alliance got a hold of them…but they didn't trust him anymore.

Just then Beckett groaned and soon the others were joining her in making as much unnecessary noise as possible.

"Where are we?" asked Alexis.

"Shhh. Do you want to get caught?" hissed Castle.

They hadn't noticed him hiding in the shadows up until that point and Beckett and the boys immediately pointed their guns at him.

"Put those away. You need me right now. Listen we need to move-"

"Why should we listen to you? Where are we?" asked Beckett.

Sighing Castle said, "You are on a planet named Ariel. An Alliance planet I should mention, so unless you want to get arrested I suggest we keep quiet and put the guns away!"

"A planet! Come on Castle. I don't know how you played that trick to get us here but do you really expect me to believe we are on a different _planet_. Please Castle, you're a better liar than that," said Beckett.

"Hey Beckett. Check this out," said Ryan in an awed and frightened sort of voice.

They all rushed over to peer out the curtain that was concealing them from the outside world. Castle, who had hung back, could imagine what they were seeing. A gigantic city with spaceships flying casually in the air, people in strange mixtures of clothing walking the streets and he knew they would believe him now.

They _were_ on another planet.

"Oh. My. God," said Alexis.

"Yes it's quite fascinating, but could we please put the curtain back in place before some Officers see us?" said Castle softly.

Beckett turned back and looked at Castle in a funny way that made him think that they might believe him to some degree, but they still didn't trust him.

"If what you say is true," she said, letting the curtain fall back into place, "Why shouldn't I hand you into the authorities?"

"Because," he said sliding down the rickety back wall, "You would effectively be handing yourselves over to 'the authorities' as well."

"But we're police officers too Castle. We could just explain-"

"Beckett it's not as simple as that. They would have you killed too."

"Whoa! When did this escalate to killing?" asked Alexis, who was quite pale.

But Castle couldn't answer. This entire sitting around business had let his adrenalin wear off and he was coming to realize things. Firstly he had been shot!

He could only groan and could feel himself losing consciousness.

"Hey Castle! Stay awake!" he heard Beckett saying and he could feel someone slapping him.

"'m wake," he said groggily opening his eyes again.

"Let me take look at that shoulder," said Beckett.

"You wanna play nurse, Beckett? That's cool, but a bit more privacy would be good," he slurred.

"Shut up, Castle." He watched as Beckett frowned, looking at his wound.

"We need to get you to a hospital," she said.

"Nope. Not happening," he said.

"Castle, don't argue. You have a very serious bullet wound and-"

"Oh this is _not_ a serious bullet wound. I have had _much_ worse, believe me," he said sitting up.

"What do you mean, bro?" asked Esposito.

"Long story-"

"Everything's a long story with you lately," he said heatedly.

"Look. I will tell you everything at a later date, but the only things you need to know right now is that we need to leave as soon as possible. If the Alliance catches us we're dead. Now help me up," he said and Ryan and Beckett helped him up and he looked around. They were in a small house. So the fiddling he'd done with the controls and sorta worked. He wasn't in the middle of the city but on the outskirts it would seem. But still, they couldn't stay here forever. The occupants would come home soon.

Searching he found what he needed. With some help he got his shirt off and some gauze wrapped around his shoulder.

"Funny, this stuff just lying around," said Ryan, as he wrapped Castle's shoulder.

"Almost every house has some gauze here," said Castle.

"This is a house!" said Beckett.

"Yep."

"Someone _lives_ here!" said Ryan.

"More than one someone I would think," he said, going through a pile of clothing. He couldn't find a shirt that would fit him so he put his own back on and put a coat he had found on to cover his wound.

"You can't just take that Castle," said Beckett.

"Sure I can." He could tell she was about to protest when Alexis interrupted.

"Dad. I know you said that this was another planet and I believe you. But how do you know about it if noone else back home does? Where are we exactly?"

"That would be because only two people I know of back home know of this places existence and I'm one of them."

"But why would you know about it? Why were you living on Earth if you knew of this place?"

"This planet isn't the only one. There is an entire solar system of inhabited planets," he told her.

"What! How can people not know this place exists! If you've been to Earth, does that mean they, the Alliance, know about Earth?"

"Of course they know about Earth. Every person here's ancestors lived on Earth," he told them.

"But how can they know about Earth and we not know about them?" Esposito asked.

Peering around the curtain to check the coast was clear he looked back at them. They marginally trusted him, he could see. They all looked so frightened and what he was about to say was not going to make that fear go away.

"We're several hundreds of years in the future. Didn't I mention that?"

**F_I_R_E_F_L_Y_C_A_S_T_L_E**


	2. Chapter 2

"There is no way we could have travelled hundreds of years into the future!" whispered Beckett as they walked down the street, the others trying to catch up with Castle's suddenly brisk walk.

"I dunno Beckett. We are on another planet. Time travel doesn't sound so far fetched," said Ryan.

"But time travel is _imposs-_"

Castle stopped walking and the others nearly ran into them.

"Do you mind talking a little louder? There may be a few Alliance officers that didn't hear you. Just stop talking about time travel and act like _normal_ people," he said slightly angrily.

"You mean act like arriving on a different planet is nothing new?" said Beckett, just as angrily, "I'm sorry but that's a hard thing to do. You've given us almost no time to adjust to the fact we're on another planet."

"No Beckett. Dad's right. We don't want to attract the attention of people here. They could report to the Alliance. And since dad is a wanted fugitive, that would be a really bad thing to happen," said Alexis and they stopped fighting.

Castle turned and continued to walk down the street, acting as if he _did_ arrive on planets every day.

They walked after him and Alexis asked in a whisper, "What are we doing?"

"We are going to try and get a boat," answered Castle.

"A _boat_? Why would we need a boat?" asked Ryan.

"_Why would we need a boa_- oh. I mean a ship. You know, a spaceship?" amended Castle.

"Oh. Wait what would we do with a spaceship. It's not like we could _fly_ it-" but then Ryan stopped talking. It would seem that normal people _here_ knew how to fly a spaceship. And so did Castle, it would seem by the look he was giving him.

"Okay. Where are we going to get a spaceship? Has the currency changed in the last hundred or so years?" asked Beckett.

"We don't really need a _spaceship_ which by the way you've gotta stop calling them. Say ship or boat. No what we need is a shuttle. We don't really need to travel far. Just off Ariel," said Castle.

"But how are we going to get-" Beckett began to ask but then they rounded the corner and in front of them was a lot of spaceships. Hundreds. Small ones, humongous ones and shuttles. Lots and lots of shuttles.

"There," said Castle in answer to her uncompleted question.

"Whoa. That's cool dude," said Esposito.

"How are we going to pay for one of these?" asked Beckett still astounded.

"We're not," said Castle and that brought her back to Earth (or rather Ariel).

Castle walked forward and began to look around. They followed after him. Not soon after they had joined him and small man began striding towards them.

"Hello! How can I help you good sir?" asked the salesman.

"Well ya see," began Castle, his accent so thick you'd never guess he could change it, "I was lookin' for a shuttle to buy."

"Ah. Well you see I can't sell you anything until I see your licence," said the salesman.

"I would but me boat crashed over the way there and I desperately needed to get these folk out that I forgot to save 'em before they burst into flame," he said.

The salesman looked suspicious, "What's you name?"

"Rick Castle."

"And these are?"

"That one there's Mister Kev'n. Mister Javier. Tayla. And Miss Kate."

"And what was the purpose of your ship, Mr Castle?"

"We was a Companion boat sir," said Castle.

This seemed to throw the salesman for a second, "Y-You're all Companions?"

"Not me sir. I'm just a pilot. Tayla's me daughter. These three's the Companions," said Castle.

Beckett didn't know what a Companion was but it seemed to earn you respect from people around here. She made a mental note to ask Castle what they were later.

"Of course. Silly me. Come with me and I will make you a good deal." And he walked away, gesturing them to follow. They did and soon the salesman was showing them around a quite nice shuttle. Not that Beckett had been in another shuttle to compare it to.

"So you like it then. Perhaps we could bargain a price now?" asked the salesman.

"Yeah. How about…" said Castle and then he drew his gun which had been perfectly concealed beneath his cloak.

The salesman began to put his hands up but Beckett could see that they were in fact making their way to a button on the roof of the shuttle, and Beckett who thoroughly disagreed with what they were doing, pulled her gun out of it's holster and she too pointed it at the man.

"I think there is just fine," she said.

Castle nodded in her direction and he put his gun down and checked something on the panels.

"Tank's half empty from test flights but she'll do," he said, "Now, Kate. Escort the nice man outside please."

She did so, her eyes never leaving the man. He stepped outside and closed the door. Then their was a rumbling sound and they were off. Kate rushed to the front to see them flying higher and higher, Castle at the controls.

C_A_S_T_L_E_F_I_R_E_F_L_Y

Flying a shuttle is easy enough, but Castle had to be careful of Alliance ships patrolling the sky. Who knew how long it would take for the salesman to raise the alarm.

They flew higher and higher until they exited the atmosphere of the planet and began heading towards Beaumonde. He knew that he could contact someone with information there. Good old Fanty and Mingo would know something for sure.

Something wasn't right. There should have been a lot more security in the outskirts of the city back on Ariel. There 'escape' should not have been so easy. Where were all the patrols?

"Where to now?" asked Esposito.

"Beaumonde," he replied, dropping his accent.

"Where's that?"

"Not far," he said.

"Since when do you talk so little?" asked Beckett.

He ignored that. He had to concentrate, otherwise he'd pass out.

"Dad are you okay?" asked Alexis.

"Yeah. M' fine," he said.

"No you're not. Is that wound bothering you again? We really should do something about it," said Beckett.

"There is nothing _to_ do. Look I _have_ had a lot worse. I'll be fine. Besides, if all goes to plan I should have a doctor fix me up soon enough," he said.

"What plan is this?" asked Ryan.

He swallowed. He owed these guys _some_ information.

"I know some guys at Beaumonde. At least I will if they're still alive. They can get me some information and then we'll get some place to stay the night. _Then_ we'll go to the doctor, okay?" he said.

"Okay," they said, agreeing.

"Who are these guys you know?" Then at the look he gave her, "Come on dad. I find out my dad has some strange mysterious past and doesn't get fazed with stealing or killing people, he's a wanted fugitive and he knows how to fly a spaceship. Forgive me for being a little curious."

Castle was silent for a while. He owed them a few answers and there was nothing to do but let the shuttle fly for now so he stood and went to the back of the shuttle, the others followed.

"Their names are Fanty and Mingo. Twins. They'll have some information," he told them.

"Information on what?" asked Ryan.

"On perhaps why the Alliance decided to bring me back," he said.

"But you brought us here, didn't you. You're the guy that had the machine on," said Esposito.

"Yes, but either they were there to kill me or they were planning on taking me back. I think it was the latter."

"Why the latter?" asked Beckett.

"Because when they started shooting at me they only got me on the shoulder. They could have killed me, but the went for a disarming shot. Not a kill."

"They could just be bad shots," said Alexis.

"No. They would have sent their best to get me."

There was a silence and then Beckett asked, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would they have sent their best after you? What did you do?"

Castle thought for a moment.

"I guess, I did a lot of things." He said finally.

"A lot like what? Stealing? Murder? What?"

"Well, that too. But I…spread some…information that the Alliance had buried that the public deserved to know."

"So you broadcasted government secrets?"

"Yes."

"So they have good reason to be after you," said Beckett.

"It's a really long story."

"So you keep telling us. But we have plenty of time. So how about you tell us and get it out of the way?" said Beckett.

Castle was silent for a moment. He had planned on never telling anyone his past. He had a new life and he didn't want Alexis to think to badly of him, but they needed to know.

"Years and years ago, the population of Earth-that-was became too great and was therefore uninhabitable. The government found a suitable solar system and terraformed the planets and moons to make them habitable. Some worked. Some didn't. But eventually we were able to move to this new solar system."

"Okay. So what millions have predicted came true," said Alexis.

"Yes. There was peace for a while, but then there was a war. The Alliance versus the Independents, the war was huge. Many planets became uninhabitable because of it. Both sides were fighting for a different government. The Alliance won."

"'Sergeant'," whispered Beckett.

"Sorry?" asked Castle.

"The Officers back at the precinct. They called you Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds. Richard Castle's not your name is it? It's Malcolm Reynolds. You were a Sergeant in the war. For the Independent's I would assume," she said.

Castle grinned, "Yes. I changed my name to Richard Castle when I arrived at Earth-that-was. And yes, I was a Sergeant in the war."

"My dad participated in a war," said Alexis, shocked.

"Yes honey."

"Conscription?" asked Esposito, who couldn't imagine Castle joining in a war of his own free will.

"No. I was one of the first to volunteer. The moon in which I grew up was one of the three leading planets for the Independents."

"What was the moon's name?" asked Alexis.

"'Shadow'. Obviously, once we lost the war we Independents, or Bowncoats as we liked to be called had to disband. Of course there was a lot left to be disbanded. Me and Zoe, my second in command, bought a boat, a firefly I called, 'Serenity' and we got ourselves a pilot, Wash, and a mechanic, Kaylee. And a few other people joined us over the years, Jayne and Inara. Then a few years ago Sheppard Book, River and Simon joined us. River and Simon were being hunted by the Alliance. It's hard to explain why. They helped us on a few jobs. Simon's a doctor see. He patched us up in exchange for a part of the bounty."

"Bounty? What kind of jobs were you taking?" asked Ryan.

"Oh a bit of this and that. Anyway. The Alliance was out to kill River for something they feared she knew. So we decided to figure out what they thought she knew. We found out and spread it around. Wash and Sheppard Book died finding out that information. Then we were on a job and the Alliance snatched me. Their scientists had recently created an experimental time machine and decided to use me as the test subject. They created a device to see if I made it. I did. They didn't have the technology to bring me back so they didn't."

"But that's against the law!" cried Alexis.

Castle smiled, "That's never stopped the Alliance."

They were silent for some time.

"What was the infor-" began Beckett, but Castle was spared answering by a beeping at the console.

"What does that mean? Are we going to crash?" asked Ryan slightly panicking.

"No! It means we're here and if I don't change the angle we're going down at, we'll burn up in the atmosphere."

"What!"

"But I'm changing the angle, so don't worry."

They kept going down. Castle manoeuvred the shuttle so that they wouldn't burn up in the atmosphere.

"I think I'm going to be sick," said Ryan.

"Well, don't puke on me dude," said Esposito.

They landed and walked out onto the platform. Castle got Alexis and the guys to wait over in a corner and picked a rich and single looking guy from out of the crowd.

"Talk to him," he told Beckett.

"What?"

"Just keep him occupied."

She did, and Castle was able to successfully pick the man's pocket of enough money to get them a room at the Maidenhead. He made a quick call and organised a meeting with Fanty and Mingo.

Castle showed the others to their room and told them to stay there and not talk to anyone. It was important that they not raise suspicions. He walked down the staircase and saw the familiar faces of Fanty and Mingo.

"Mal," said Fanty, "We haven't seen you in ages!"

"We heard you'd got caught," said Mingo.

"Fanty. Mingo. Whatever gave you the idea that I'd been caught," he asked them.

"Oh just the rumour mill," said Fanty.

"What exactly did the 'rumour mill' say?" he asked.

"Well now. If it's information you contacted us for as you said on the phone, then you're going to have to pay," said Mingo.

"Of course," he said handing over some coins.

"Now this. This isn't enough Mal," informed Mingo.

"I know. You'll get the rest when I get my information. And it had better be good information," he said.

"Of course Mal. Of course."

"So. What gave you the impression I had been caught?" he asked again.

"There was a rumour that you were going to publicly executed. We assumed that meant you'd been caught."

Castle paused. He'd been expecting this. But it was nice to know for certain.

"What of my crew? Have you heard of them lately?" he asked.

"We've given them some jobs in the last couple of months. Last we heard they were all alright. Refused to say where you were though."

"I've had to go underground for a while. So what's with the lack of Alliance around? Why aren't their more patrols in the skies?"

"That must have been some rock you were hiding under Mal, if you haven't heard," said Mingo.

"Answer my question."

"After your crew spread that recording about them Reevers the 'verse was in an uproar. The Alliance lost favour with a lot of people. Turns out that they were trying to perfect the pax. The Browncoat's assembled," said Fanty.

"What do you mean?" he asked, fearing what he was hearing.

"The war's started up again Mal."

**C_A_S_T_L_E_F_I_R_E_F_L_Y**


	3. Chapter 3

Castle was astounded. He was about to ask some more questions when an alarm suddenly went off. Jumping up he saw everyone running in every direction.

"What's that?" he asked.

"That's the _gorram _Reever alarm! Get to your room! Now! Unless you'd rather be eaten!" yelled Mingo.

Then Castle started running. He ran to the gun storage and got his gun and ran full pelt to the room. This couldn't happen here. This was a major planet they were talking about, not a small moon or border planet.

When he reached the corridor in which their room presided he saw Esposito and Beckett in the middle of the corridor. When they saw Castle they began to walk towards him, but he shook his head and shouted, "Get in the room! Now! Run!"

They ran and as soon as they were in the room he shut the door and found that there was a big heavy iron door as well. He realized this had happened many times before, hence the alarms and iron doors.

"Castle!" cried Beckett and he realized he'd zoned out for a second. He turned around and went to the window and looked out. Sure enough he saw Reevers. He saw that their was an iron screen to pull over the window, to make it secure.

"Dad! What's going-" but she didn't finish her sentence, because that's when the screaming started.

"Oh. My. God," said Alexis.

"Castle. What's happening?" asked Beckett, the horror of what she was hearing evident in her voice.

Castle just shook his head. He didn't want to tell them, didn't want them to know the true horrors of the 'verse.

"If you won't tell us then we'll just have to see for ourselves," said Beckett and she began to walk towards the window.

"No! You can't do that Beckett. I won't let you," he said.

"Just watch me," she said.

He ran up behind her and grabbed her around the waist, hefted her over his shoulder and carried her away from the window.

"Castle! Put me down!" she screamed and he put her down as far away from the window as possible.

"Castle! How dare you-"

"Don't look out the window. Whatever you do, don't look out the window. You won't like what you see," he said in a cold and serious voice.

"But what is going _on_. Castle we've got to help those people!" said Beckett.

"No. We cannot help. Just sit tight, it'll be over soon," he said.

He looked her in the eye and she nodded. Sighing Castle made to sit down, but then he saw out of the corner of his eye Alexis running towards the window.

"No!" he shouted, but it was too late. She'd opened the window. The screams became louder. The others rushed to the window to see and looked down at the carnage below. Alexis screamed and ran to the toilet to puke. The others turned away and Ryan ran to throw up in the bathtub. He ran to the window and shut it.

Walking into the bathroom, he saw Alexis over the near the toilet, her hands over her face, sobbing. He hadn't wanted her to see that. He should have just told them. Now his daughter would have nightmares, probably for the rest of her life.

He bent down and gave her a hug.

"It's alright sweetheart. You're safe," he said softly to her.

"I know that! But th-_those _p-p-poor p-people aren't," she sobbed.

"I know. But I can't do anything about that. I'm sorry," he said.

After she calmed down a bit he walked her into the room where the others were. They were all white with shock.

"What were those things?" asked Beckett softly.

"Reevers," he said. There was no sense in keeping it from them. They knew everything now. Well, almost everything.

"Are the aliens or something? Do they feed on the population?" asked Ryan.

"No. And Yes. They're human, in the loosest definition."

"How could someone do those things to people?" asked Alexis, also in a quiet whisper.

"It's the pax," he told them.

"The what?" asked Alexis.

He turned to Beckett, "Back on the shuttle, you were going to ask what the information I spread. Well on a planet called Miranda, the Government put what they called Pax into the air system to calm the population. What ended up happening was that the population became so calm that they lost the will to live. They just laid down and gave up. But a small percentage of the population had the opposite effect. They became known as the Reevers."

"Oh my God," said Beckett.

They waited in silence after that. The screaming eventually died down and a person said over the speakers that it was safe to come out. But noone got up to open the door. They just sat. And eventually they walked to their beds and slept.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning they clambered into the shuttle. They topped up on fuel and left the planet. He supposed that next time he saw Fanty and Mingo they'd be after the money he owed them but he couldn't bring himself to care. It had been almost a day since that fateful showdown in the precinct and that meant it'd been an entire day and still his shoulder hadn't been treated. He didn't even know if the bullet went clean through or not. But they'd know soon enough. He'd managed to find out the date and knew that he had one chance to contact his crew, if they were still alive, and that one chance happened tomorrow, which meant another day that it'd go untreated, but it had happened before so he wasn't too fussed.

"Dad, where are we going?" asked Alexis. He knew she must be exhausted; they all were. He didn't think one of them slept well last night.

"Haven."

"That a planet?" asked Esposito.

"No. A moon of Deadwood. It's a, uh, haven, for criminals and the like. But ah, a while ago, everyone was killed in one of the villages. Some friends of mine are buried there."

"I'm sorry Dad."

"Don't be Alexis. We're going there because every year my crew goes to the planet to pay their respects. At least they did. If they still do then they should be there tomorrow."

They flew in silence after that. Alexis and Beckett caught up on some much needed sleep. Ryan and Esposito seemed to be quite comfortable to just stare at the stars. Castle kept on flying. He couldn't believe all that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. One moment he was Rick Castle, author and tag-a-long to the NYPD. Next he was some merge of Malcolm Reynolds and Rick Castle.

But who was he really?

C_A_S_T_L_E_F_I_R_E_F_L_Y

Alexis stared off into space. Literally. She never thought that she would ever do that. It was still hard to believe all of this. She still couldn't get those images of those poor people out of her head. And he dad had grown up with things like that happening.

Speaking of her dad, he looked pale. She supposed he hadn't got much sleep. She wondered if they should pull of or something so he could rest. What sorts of road (or space she supposed) laws were there? She was about to say something when she saw her dad's eyes slowly close and all he slumped in his seat.

"Dad?" she asked worried. Beckett got up and tried to shake her dad awake but he wouldn't. They all began to get worried. But before they could think of a way to wake him there was a beeping and the shuttle began to shake.

"What's happening?" asked Ryan.

"I dunno," said Esposito.

But their question was answered for them when a voice echoed from overhead, "_Entering Atmosphere_."

"Oh crap. Castle! Wake up! We don't know how to fly the ship! You have to wake up!" screamed Beckett, shaking her dad harder.

"Quick, move Castle out of the pilots seat," said Ryan.

"Why?" asked Esposito.

"Just do it," was Ryan's answer and they were all so panicked that they did what he said. The shuttle was shaking in earnest now. Ryan jumped into the pilots seat and uneasily took up the controls.

"What are you doing?" asked Beckett.

"I'm going to fly the ship," he answered, "and hopefully save all our ass's at the same time."


	5. Chapter 5

They just stared. But then the shuttle began to shake more and more as Ryan tried to enter the atmosphere at the right angle.

"Better hold onto something!" shouted Ryan. They didn't need telling twice.

"What about dad?" shouted Alexis over the din.

But there was no time to do anything about Castle. Just then they entered the outer atmosphere and were quickly heading towards the stratosphere. Ryan was trying to pull up but had no idea how to land. The others were holding on to anything they could. Then the ground came up to meet them, and there was a resounding crash, that could probably be heard for miles.

F_I_R_E_F_L_Y_C_A_S_T_L_E

Esposito was the first to wake up. He quickly remembered where they were and immediately began to search for his partner. He had spotted the pilots chair and had moved forward to go to it, when he tripped over something. Looking down he saw Castle, who was still unconscious but looked flushed. His breathing was ragged.

On closer inspection Esposito could see that there was a small shard of glass in his side. Quickly he ripped a piece of his shirt and wrapped it around the shard, not game enough to take it out. They had to get out of here but he couldn't carry Castle out by himself, and what about the others?

He walked over to his partner and checked his pulse, sure and steady, before shaking him awake.

"Ugh…wha'?" Ryan slurred.

"Come on man, you gotta stay awake for me. We crashed," he told him.

"Nnnn," said Ryan, his head drooping and his eyes closing.

"Oi," said Esposito slapping him gingerly in the face, "Stay awake. Come on Kevin."

"'M wake," he managed and sat up a little straighter.

"I need you to help me get the others outta here."

"M'kay," he said, and he stood slowly and stumbled over to the motionless form of Alexis.

While Ryan woke up Alexis he went over to Beckett.

"Oi. Beckett. Kate. Wakey, wakey," he said shaking her.

Almost immediately she startled awake, reaching for her gun. Though before she could draw it she saw that it was only Esposito, and stood up.

"What happened?" she asked.

"We crashed remember? You hurt anywhere?"

"No-"

"Dad!" came a scream. They turned to see a fully awake Alexis searching for her father in a panic that was just kicking up more dust, making it even harder for them to see.

"Hey Alexis. It's okay he's right over here. Ryan, help me move him, we gotta get out of this thing," he said.

"Yep," said Ryan, still slurring.

Alexis and Beckett cleared the rubble and debris to form a path that they could take Castle through, without injuring him further. They eventually found the exit, but they had to use their combined strength to pry it open.

Stepping out onto the planet, they saw that it looked a lot like a desert, and he wondered why anyone would want to live here. They carried Castle over to the nearest tree and laid him under it.

Beckett took a look at his wound and claimed it as only a flesh wound. She pulled the shard out, making it bleed more and Alexis flinch. They ripped some of Castle shirt and made a makeshift bandage.

Finally, they figured they'd done everything for them they could. The flesh wound wasn't the problem. What had made him pass out was. The bullet wound had become very infected and needed treatment. Unfortunately they had nothing to treat it with.

"That bullet has to come out," said Beckett.

"Yeah, but what then?" asked Ryan, who had stopped slurring.

"Well, Castle said that some friends of his were coming to visit some graves right? Well we've got to find those graves," reasoned Beckett.

"But we crashed! We could be on the other side of the planet for all we know!" exclaimed Esposito, feeling like he was repeating himself.

"We've got to try," insisted Beckett with the slight in her voice that made him think she had an alterative motive, "Ryan, you and Alexis search in the immediate area."

"What? Wouldn't it be better for us to stick together? We could get lost," complained Ryan.

"Dude. Go. Get some firewood while you're at it," joined in Esposito, "if this place is anything like the desert then we'll be in for a cold night."

"Fine whatever," said Ryan, standing, "When we get eaten by man-eating, alien goats, you'll just have to yourself to blame. Come on Alexis."

As soon as they were out of sight Esposito and Beckett turned to Castle. He was still unconscious and sweat had appeared on his forehead.

"Esposito can you go into that wreckage and look for something like a first aid kit," ordered Beckett.

"On it," he said and he stood and walked to the wrecked shuttle. Putting his shirt over his mouth, he stepped inside.

By now most of the dust had settled so he was able to see clearer. He looked around and saw only debris. Walking over to a shelf he used his sense of touch to search for anything even resembling a first aid kit.

Finally his hand felt a box. Pulling it out he saw a Chinese symbol. He opened it and saw to his delight that it was filled with medical supplies. He raced out to find Beckett trying to calm a delirious and very conscious Castle.

"You find one?" asked Beckett.

"Yep. How is he?" he asked, nodding towards Castle who was mumbling.

"He keeps saying Alexis is in danger and something about the Alliance but I can't tell what he's saying exactly. Not that it matters. He's delirious," she said looking worried, "I didn't want to do this while he was awake. But this can't wait any longer."

Esposito nodded, "At least you sent Alexis away. And Kevin too, when I think of it. He'd be sick…again."

"Yeah," she said taking a deep breath, "Okay. We're going to need gauze, pliers and any pain killers or numbing solutions you can find in there."

He found the listed items easily, though the numbing solution wasn't very good quality. It looked like it'd expired years ago.

"Something's better than nothing," said Beckett and Esposito had to agree.

They stripped him of his shirt and they cleaned the wound best they could with some of the gauze. They had no water to do it properly but had to try anyway. The whole time Castle squirmed and tried to move away from them. It got so bad that Esposito had to actually hold Castle down as Beckett did it.

Once that was done he pinned Castle down best he could and Beckett took hold of the pliers. Taking a deep breath he nodded to Esposito to make sure he was ready. He nodded.

Beckett leaned over the wound and began to work. Castle twisted and screamed and mumbled something about 'Niska' but they did their best to ignore him, which became surprisingly easy when he started to swear in a mixture of English and Chinese.

"Got it!" Beckett cried in victory, holding the bullet high.

Esposito let go of Castle who had passed out and got some gauze to place over the wound.

It was a while before Alexis and Ryan came back with firewood and the location of the gravesite.

"That was all the firewood we could find," said Alexis.

"Yeah. You guys should see these graves. They're, like, holographic! I want a grave like them!" said Ryan.

"Yeah, whatever. You know it's occurred to me…how are we going to light the fire?" asked Esposito.

They all looked at each other, silently asking if anyone had a lighter. They didn't. They searched the shuttle again and found a flashlight but nothing else.

"We're going to freeze to death," said Ryan.

"No we're not," said Alexis, "I did girl scouts. I know how to survive in the wild. Though I have to admit, our chances are slim."

"Well aren't you a little ray of sunshine," said Esposito and Alexis blushed at the sarcasm.

"Well we've just got to stay close together," she said, "For body heat, you know."

"Yeah. Survival 101," agreed Ryan.

"Well then that's what we'll do," said Beckett.

_**C_A_S_T_L_E_F_I_R_E_F_L_Y**_


	6. Chapter 6

They huddled closely together, hiding from the wind behind the shuttle. They'd spread Castle's coat across as much of them as possible but other than that they could do nothing to escape the cold. Castle still had a fever and kept moaning so they were having a hard time sleeping.

"Kevin, you never told us how you knew how to fly the shuttle," pointed out Esposito.

"I played a lot of video games when I was a kid," explained Ryan, "Who knew that it would come in handy eh?"

"You know I keep thinking about everything that's happened and there are things that don't add up," said Beckett.

"What things?" asked Ryan.

"Like Martha. If she's not Castle's mother who is she?" she pointed out.

They were silent for a while after that. So much had happened in the last forty-eight hours that was so hard to believe. They were still processing it.

"Holy crap!" cried out Ryan suddenly.

"What?" asked the others looking around.

"We're in the freakin'' future!"

Esposito looked angry and then cuffed him over the head.

"Ow! What was that for!"

"For being stupid. I believe we found that out two days ago," he said.

"But what about Jeanie? Are we just gone? What's the Captain going to think when he sees those bodies?" asked Ryan quickly.

"Well that depends on whether time is linear or circular," said Alexis matter-of-factly.

"What?" asked the others, confused.

"Well if time is linear it's possible to change the future. We went forward so everything will have played out as if we had suddenly disappeared and if- _when _we get back we'll have changed our future again. But if it's circular, no matter what we do we can't change the future, because everything is already taken into account," she explained.

The others looked at each other and Esposito said, "I still don't get it."

Alexis sighed, "Linear is 'Back to the Future' and circular is 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'."

They nodded, getting it now.

"Riiiiiight."

"Why didn't you say that in the first place?"

"I never saw Harry Potter."

F_I_R_E_F_L_Y_C_A_S_T_L_E

The next morning it was decided that Castle wasn't to be moved. Alexis was to stay with him, and the others were to wait behind some handy bushes near the graves and wait for Castle's old crew to arrive.

"Here," said Beckett, handing Alexis Castle's gun (that used to be her own), "Just in case."

They trekked up the hill and up to a cliff. Ryan had been right; the graves had holographic images hovering above the headstones.

"Dude, that's cool," said Esposito, "I want a grave like that."

Beckett shot him a look and they went and waited behind the bushes.

It was nearly dusk by the time they heard a 'ship. It was huge and looked a bit like a firefly. There was a word written on the side.

"'Serenity'," said Ryan.

"That's Castle's 'ship," said Beckett.

They watched as Castle's former crew approached the graves. There was proper looking man walking hand-in-hand with a slightly dirty girl in overalls, a finely dressed lady, a young girl and a tall woman.

"Five," whispered Beckett, "Didn't Castle say six-"

_Chink-chink_, was the sound behind them and they all turned to see a large man with a rifle standing behind them, pointing his gun directly at Beckett's head.

F_I_R_E_F_L_Y_C_A_S_T_L_E

Zoe watched as Jayne marched three people forward, their hands on their heads. They were well dressed which suggested wealth and they looked well fed as well, if a little bruised. Zoe walked over and Jayne forced them on their knees. Zoe knelt in front of the woman and looked her in the eye.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Kate Beckett," answered the woman, "This is Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan."

"Are you Alliance?" she asked.

"No."

Zoe stood and paced in front of them.

"No? You sure about that? You certainly dress like them," she said.

"Quite sure," replied the one names Esposito.

"Why are you here then?" she asked and the answer she got was so unexpected that she actually had to take a step back.

"Malcolm Reynolds said you could help us."


	7. Chapter 7

Beckett walked alongside her companions. They all had guns to their backs and were showing the Serenity crew the way to the wrecked shuttle- and Castle.

They rounded the bend and saw the shuttle, half buried in the sand.

She stopped and motioned for the others to do the same.

"Alexis," she called out, "It's us! We've brought C…Malcolm's crew!"

She hadn't told them anything yet. Nothing about where he'd been or who he was back home, or his relationship with all of them. Nor had they told them their names. They knew who they were of course, but they could not put names to faces yet.

"Alexis?" asked the leader, "Who's Alexis?"

"She's…a friend," said Beckett.

Alexis walked around the corner with gun held awkwardly in her hands. Immediately the crew who didn't have guns tailed on Beckett, Esposito and Ryan, pointed them at Alexis.

"Put the gun down," ordered the leader.

"O-okay," stuttered Alexis, clearly frightened.

"Where is he?" the leader asked, striding forward.

"H-he's right over here. He n-needs medical attention," Alexis told her.

The well-dressed man that had been walking behind them ran forward, following the leader.

They walked around the shuttle to where Castle laid his fever in full swing.

"Simon," called the leader.

The man who must be Simon kneeled next to Castle and put his hand on his brow.

"He has a fever," said Simon.

"He got shot," informed Ryan.

"Where? Ahh, I see. It has not been treated?"

"We took the bullet out last night, but we didn't have anything to treat the infection with," said Beckett.

Simon took his vitals then frowned.

"We need to get him back to Serenity," he said.

"Do what you need to do Doc," said the leader, "Inara, help him. I want to talk to these four."

The woman who had had her gun on Esposito walked forward, putting her gun away and helped Simon carry Castle back over to the 'ship.

"Now," said the leader, "Exactly where did you come from? Where has Mal been? Don't tell me you're friends, no friend of Mal would call him 'Malcolm'."

Beckett thought for a moment and then said, "Listen, you won't believe us if we tell you. When Mal wakes up, he can tell you. Just know that we're his friends."

The leader thought for a moment and then nodded to one of the people behind them. Some form of silent communication was going on and Beckett didn't think she was going to like it.

The leader looked at her and said, "Alright. We'll wait. But if he doesn't agree with your story of you being friends then things will not end well for any of you. Come on, let's go."

F_I_R_E_F_L_Y_C_A_S_T_L_E

Simon winced at the bullet wound in the Captain's shoulder.

"Is he going to be okay?" asked Inara.

"I think so. The infection is bad but the wound itself isn't an issue. Some antibiotics and he should wake up in a few hours."

He gave Mal the medicine he needed and snapped his gloves off. There was an IV in his arm steadily restoring his hydration.

"Inara would you stay with him?" he asked her and she nodded like he knew she would.

He walked out of the makeshift infirmary and toward the stairs but before he could take another step he saw the others coming towards him. He had taken note almost subconsciously of their injuries and knew that some of the cuts they had would need stitches.

Zoe walked them into the infirmary; the prisoners/friends-of-Mal's trailing behind her.

"You sit over here, you over here, you over there and you here," commanded Zoe, pointing at where they were to sit.

Zoe and Jayne exited the room but River stayed behind. Probably to make sure the others didn't jump him or something.

He walked over to the nearest person and took out his penlight.

"So, Kate isn't it?" he asked as he checked her pupils.

"Yes," she said.

"Okay could please give me your hand," he said.

"Why?" she asked, obviously wary of him.

"You're a bit dehydrated. I'm just going to insert and IV so you can get the necessary fluids, okay?"

"Okay then," she said.

He did as he told her he would and then moved over to his next patient.

"So how do you know the Captain?" he asked nonchalantly.

"We- um, we're friends," answered Kate.

"How did you meet?" he asked.

"Well um-"

He didn't get his answer though, for at that moment Mal gave a groan.

Rushing over to him he saw that he was just regaining consciousness.

"Captain? Can you open your eyes for me?" asked Simon.

"Simon?" asked Mal groggily, "Long time, no see eh?"

"Yeah, you could say that. You had a fever. It's mostly gone now," he informed him.

Mal then tried to sit up, but ended up failing.

"Ow. I should not try to do that," he muttered.

"Inara could you please inform Zoe that Mal's awake," he said, not taking his eyes off Mal as he took his vitals once more.

Inara wordlessly stood and walked out of the room.

"My friends?" asked Mal, and Simon assumed he meant the people with him.

"We're right here Castle," said Kate.

"'Castle'? Why are you calling him Castle?" he asked looking at Kate.

"Um-"

But then Zoe, Jayne, Kaylee and Inara walked into the room and distracted him.

Kaylee immediately ran up to Mal and gave him a hug.

"Hey, watch the shoulder," Mal said, laughing. It'd been so long since they'd heard that.

"Where have you been? We've been so worried about you Cap'an!" exclaimed Kaylee.

"Um…" said Mal, looking around the room at all the occupants.

Sighing Mal looked at Simon and said, "Help me up will ya'?"

Walked over he did as he was asked.

"Okay," said Mal, "I've sort of been in the past."


	8. Chapter 8

"You've been where?" asked Jayne in astonishment.

"Sir I think maybe you've hit you head," said Zoe.

"That's impossible," said Inara.

"No it's not," said River, "Nothing is ever truly impossible."

The others looked at River as though if she said it to be true, then it was. Alexis looked over at her dad but he wasn't paying any attention to her. He was staring intently at River.

"The Alliance sent me and one other," said Castle.

"Martha Rodgers," whispered River.

"Hang on, Martha's from here as well?" asked Beckett.

"Yes. They sent her through first, but they needed to know whether it would work with a male as well so they sent through Mal," surprisingly this was all said by River.

"Yes," agreed Castle without a thought about how she could know all this.

"So these people are…" said Zoe, gesturing to Beckett, Alexis, Esposito and Ryan.

"From the past," Castle finished.

Everyone was silent for a while. Then Kaylee asked, "So if you've been in the past…what have you been doin' cap'ain?"

"Well," said Castle, "when I arrived I landed in a place called Los Angeles in America. I knew Martha had gone through but I didn't know whether it was the same day, or even year that she had arrived in. So I searched for her. It was really easy. She didn't change her name. When I found her we came up with a cover story. I was to be her son, my 'father' was to be dead. I changed my name to Richard Castle."

"Your mothers maiden name," stated River, "Really Mal? Really?"

"Yes really," said Castle looking offended.

"You could have chosen anything," said River.

"I needed something to remember my past by," he said.

"So that's it," said Simon, "You've just been living a normal life since then. You abandoned your life of crime and all that?"

"Um, yeah. Actually," said Castle, the hint of a challenge in his voice.

Zoe looked at Castle funny and then said, "So how did you get back here?"

Castle looked shifty for a while and then said, "Well I was in the precinct and some Alliance Officers appeared demanding my arrest. I killed them and took the time machine one of them had and came here. The only problem is it took everyone in the precinct with me."

"Precinct? What is a precinct?" asked Jayne.

Castle closed his eyes and said, "It's a…police station."

"Were you arrested?" asked Zoe, suspiciously.

"No," said Castle.

"What were ya doin' there then Cap'ain?" asked Kaylee.

"I sort of…work there," said Castle.

Zoe stared, "You _work_ there?"

"Yes."

"You work in a _government_ facility catching people like us?"

"Well, sort of."

"_What do you mean 'sort of'?_" said Zoe angrily.

Beckett decided now was a good time to pipe in, "He catches murderers. I'm a homicide detective. He helps me, he's not an actual detective."

The crew looked at her for a while and it was making her feel self-conscious. Here she, a detective, in the middle of a bunch of criminals. She was out of her depth.

"So your telling me that you work in a police station but you is not actually the police? What, are you some kind of volunteer?" asked Jayne.

"Well yeah…" said Castle, looking flushed.

"Okay, that's enough," interrupted Simon, "I know that you guys want to question him more and all, but he needs rest. You all need to leave. All of you."

F_I_R_E_F_L_Y_C_A_S_T_L_E

Zoe showed them to there rooms. They were nice. But Beckett wasn't fooled. She knew that the only reason they weren't in some kind of cell was because they were Castle's friends.

"Listen, you shouldn't be mad at Castle," said Beckett to Zoe.

"No you listen. I don't do too well with being told what to do. So stay out of it," said Zoe harshly.

"What are you so angry about!" yelled Alexis, "My dad has done _nothing_ to you!"

"Your dad?" asked Zoe severely taken aback.

Alexis immediately slapped a hand over her mouth.

"You're his daughter?" asked Zoe again.

Alexis removed her hand and said, "Yes. I am!"

"Mal had a kid?"

"Yes! Don't you get it! He's changed since you last saw him. And yeah he works for the government, but he only catches cold-blooded murderers. Besides the government back then is not like the Alliance! So he wasn't doing anything wrong," yelled Alexis.

Everyone looked taken aback by this sudden outburst. Zoe still looked shocked that Alexis was Castle's daughter.

Finally Zoe said, "Your name makes sense then."

"What?" asked Alexis looking confused.

"Alexis was Mal's mothers name," explained Zoe.

"Oh."

Silence. Then…

"Look, I'm sorry about all this. It's just a lot to take in all at once. Until today I thought Mal was either locked up somewhere or dead. Definitely not in the future. We've been breaking into nearly every prison we could think of to find him."

"Yeah well, you're talking to the people who until today had never even left our country, let alone our time zone," said Beckett.

Zoe looked them all up and down, "You guys are filthy. I'll get you some rags or something. I think some of River's clothes might fit Alexis. I might have something for you, but if not I'm sure Inara will have something. And Simon might have something for you guys."

Zoe began to walk out of the room but stopped and said to them, "Then I'll try to convince Simon to let you see Mal."

_**Soz that this has taken so long to get up but I had a funeral to go to and tests and then I had a friend staying over so yeah. By the way, exciting news. PRINCE FREAKING WILLIAM DROVE THROUGH MY SMALL SMALL TOWN TODAY AND HE WAVED AT ME! ALSO SOME CHICK FROM SUNRISE WAS THERE SO IF YOU LIVE IN AUSTRALIA WATCH SUNRISE TOMORROW AND IF THERE IS SOME GUY THAT LOOKS LIKE PRINCE WILLIAM (Who is not the one who waved at me by the way, that was the real thing) THEN THAT'S WHERE I LIVE! The IGA behind it is my local IGA and so on. And on the off chance they show anything else, I'm the Ranga in the dress. **_


	9. Chapter 9

Hey guys. Wow it's been such a long time since I've updated this story and I am really sorry for the long wait, but I just got a job and have been there every afternoon all week and when I get home I'm just so tired. Seriously, I had no idea being a cashier was so difficult! Did you know that we have to tell the difference betweens all the different types of apples and there are a lot of those let me tell you! AND I can't tell the difference between plums and peaches! Does anyone know how to tell coz I'm dying in there!

Zoe walked into the corridor, letting go a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding.

"Zoe?" asked River, who had snuck up behind her, "I brought them some clothes."

"How'd you- right. That's right. Of course you knew. They're-"

"Just inside. I know."

River passed her and walked into the room behind her.

Zoe sighed and walked around the ship, unsure of where she was going. It was times like these that she really missed her husband. He'd be there to comfort her and tell her that this was all bonkers, making her laugh.

"Hey Zoe."

Zoe looked up. She was in the infirmary and there was Mal. Simon was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Captain," she said.

"It's been such a long time since I've been called that," he said smiling.

"Kaylee's been calling you that since you got back," said Zoe, walking further into the room.

"I know. But it's different coming from you."

She jumped up on one of the seats on the edge of the room and watched Mal studying her.

"What?" she asked, she was not used to this sort of behaviour from her closest friend.

"How you holding up?" he asked unexpectedly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean Wash, Zoe."

This threw her. The months after Wash's death, she'd never heard him mutter her husbands name once, let alone talk to her about him.

"I'm dealing," she said, "I've been more focused on rescuing you on whatever prison you were being held in."  
Mal laughed. She'd never heard him laugh like that. So easily and freely.

"If it makes you feel any better I was in prison for a bit. Nowhere you could have broken into but. And I mean no offence by that. I'm sure you would have given it a mighty try but you all would have died in the attempt. Even with little River," he said.

It was Zoë's turn to study him. And his turn to ask, "What?"

"Earth-That-Was has been good for you," she said.

"Yeah," he smiled, "Nothing like this place though."

"What'd you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"How did you live? Survive? Kate told me you weren't a cop but you helped out the cops. What were you? Surely they didn't pay you?"

"No. I made money. Had to. New York is a tough city to live in," he said.

"You still haven't answered my question," she said.

"It doesn't matter," he said, "What's with these Reevers turning up everywhere?"

"You know about them do you?" she asked, noting the change in subject.

"Yeah. I met up with Fanty and Mingo to get some information and was interrupted by the alarm."

Zoe nodded, "Yeah I heard about that. They killed a lot of people. The alarms were installed a couple of months ago after the Alliance realized what was happening. No one knows what set them off."

"Alexis saw them…" he left the sentence hanging but Zoe knew exactly what he meant.

"Poor girl. Speaking of which, you failed to tell us she was your daughter," said Zoe with a grin.

"Did I?" said Mal grinning, "They told you I suppose."

"They sure did."

"What else they tell you?" he asked.

"Not a lot. They're a quiet bunch," she said.

"Ha! Not normally. But I suppose it has to be pretty scary. I mean being in the future. In a space ship with a bunch of criminals," he said.

"What's going to happen to them? They going to stay here with us?" she asked.

But Mal surprised her and shook his head, "No. I wanted to talk to you about that. We need to find a way to get them home."

F_I_R_E_F_L_Y_C_A_S_T_L_E

River slid the canvas door open and walked into the room, aware that all the occupants were watching her, studying her. She handed them each some clothes. Some of her own for Alexis but no way would they fit Kate, so she'd grabbed some of Zoë's. Kevin had some of Simon's but Esposito had to deal with some of Jayne's.

"Thanks," said Alexis, polite as ever but clearly scared of her.

"How'd you get these so quickly? Or is the others quarters just down the hall or something?" asked Esposito.

"No. It's on the other side of the ship," she answered and then she knew. It was like a moment of clarity whenever this happened. Like she'd just realized something, remembered.

"Mal didn't tell you everything," she said.

"I'm sorry what?" asked Kate.

"He didn't tell you everything. He thought it would frighten you. He thought it too much to burden you with. He doesn't want you to know everything so you can go home with minimal damage." She never meant to say all that but it tumbled out anyway.

"What do mean? How do you know this?" Kate asked angrily.

Instead of answering River just walked out of the room. She heard the others calling after her and she could sense one of them following her. But unfortunately for them Jayne walked around the corner at that time.

"Hey! You get back in your gorram room! You ain't to wander round you hear me?" he said and Kate reluctantly went back to the room to wait.


	10. Chapter 10

"I hate these clothes," said Esposito.

"Dude, just deal with it," said Ryan.

"You can't talk, at least your clothes are clean and don't smell like petrol," he snapped back.

"Hey just-"

"Guys!" said Beckett loudly, "Cut it out. Now."

The boys went quiet and Beckett sighed in relief. They had been talking for hours. First about whatever River had meant, then about how they were going to get home, then about this new Castle that robbed banks and got shot on a daily basis. Then when they had run out of new things to talk about they started getting annoyed with everything and they voiced their opinions.

Beckett looked at Alexis, who had found a book in her pile of clothes and was quietly reading it. Beckett wondered, not for the first time, how River had known whose clothes would fit them and to get Alexis a book to read so that she didn't go crazy with boredom. Then there were the things she had said, not just to them but when Castle was explaining how he had gotten into the past, how she had known things before Castle told them.

She hoped that someone explained soon, otherwise she could not be held accountable for her actions.

F_I_R_E_F_L_Y_C_A_S_T_L_E

The Serenity crew were gathered in what could only be called a meeting. They had these every now and then, in particular when something big was going on. This one was so that Mal could cover a few things he had refrained from telling them.

By the time Mal arrived everyone was sitting around the kitchen table, waiting. He sat and Inara knew that this was going to be painful for everyone.

"I'm finding a way to get them home," said Mal, loudly and clearly. Inara thought it strange to hear him speak without his accent.

"And I do not hold it to you to help," continued Mal, "But it would be greatly appreciated."

Inara looked at this half-Mal. She thought back to that time on Haven when he had asked roughly the same thing, but it such a different and harsh way.

"I'm in," said Zoe.

"As am I," Inara put in.

Eventually everyone around the table nodded their assent (even Jayne though he was the last to do so), and Mal looked around at them appreciatively.

"Thank you," he said and Inara saw a few people looking a Mal a bit strangely.

"I 'ave a question," said Jayne, "How the ruddy gorram hell are we gonna do that?"

"It'll be difficult, but I think with everyone's help we should be able to get a hold of another time machine," said Mal.

"Another one? What happened to the last one?" asked Kaylee.

"Back in the hands of the Alliance," said Mal.

"How did tha' happen?" asked Jayne.

"Back at the precinct, when I first put on the machine, I made it so that it would, well drop me off early and in a different place," said Mal.

"What do you mean? Couldn't you have just changed the place it would go back to?" asked Inara.

"No. It was programmed so that no one could change it but the creators."

"How do you know all this? Did you spent three days looking at it?" asked Simon.

"The one that was used to bring me to the past is still in my apartment, Simon. I've been studying it for years," explained Mal, "This new one was a bit different but still similar. I was able to figure out kinda how it worked."

"But where are we going to find one?" asked Inara.

"Well, we're going to need to break in to wherever they're built, that's obvious," said Zoe.

"But here's the thing," said Mal, "We need to get the key cards from the creators in order to use them."

"So we need to steal these key cards from high security people and storm a building that we don't even know the location of," summed up Zoe.

"That's about right," said Mal.

"You're insane, you are," said Jayne.

"_You_ agreed to help," said Mal.

"I didn't know what that would entail, now did I?" said Jayne.

"If you want to back out-" began Mal.

"Back out? I'll be damned if I ever back out of anythin'! I was merely statin my opinion," said Jayne quickly.

"Okay good. 'Coz we're going to need all the help we can get," said Mal.

F_I_R_E_F_L_Y_C_A_S_T_L_E

The door to Beckett, Ryan, Esposito and Alexis' makeshift cell opened and they saw Kaylee and Inara standing there, with smiles on their faces.

"Hello, I'm Inara and this is Kaylee," Inara said, "Come with us, we're here to show you around."

"We're allowed to leave the room now?" asked Beckett.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience but the crew are…suspicious of strangers. It's only thanks to Mal that you're even still alive," said Inara.

"Lovely," said Ryan.

"Harsh I know, but they are criminals."

"_They're_ criminals? What and you're not?" asked Beckett.

"No. I try to stay out of their escapades," said Inara.

"Yeah, _try_ being the operative word," said Kaylee.

"If you're not a criminal then why are you here?" asked Alexis.

"Why do I need a reason?" asked Inara.

"Everyone here has a job, at least, most of the people do. Kaylee's the mechanic, Simon's the doctor, I can't work out for the life of me what River does, um, Jayne? He's the muscle, Zoë's second in command and my dad's the captain-"

"You're dad?" asked Inara quickly.

"Yeah…didn't dad or Zoe tell you?" asked Alexis.

"Ah, no. You're his daughter?" said Inara, astonished.

"Yes," she answered, "I'm Alexis Castle."

There was an awkward silence, though why it was awkward Beckett couldn't figure out.

"Anyways," said Kaylee, "we still gotta give you the grand tour! So if you'll step this way please…"

They did as they were asked and Inara seemed to come out of the shock that she had gone into after this revelation.

"Where you've been for the last couple of hours is the guest quarters, though just over there is where Simon and River sleep," said Inara.

"Down here is the kitchen," said Kaylee, leading them down the corridor to a room that was as bright and colourful as the sun. It was obvious from the pulled out chairs and cups on the table that the room had been occupied recently.

"Then if you follow down here, we have the engine room," said Inara.

"And my room," said Kaylee, pointing to the solitary hammock that hung in a corner, surrounding by both engine parts, tools and clothes.

"It's kinda messy," said Kaylee.

Inara rolled her eyes and they went back out of the room and down a stairwell.

"Off to the sides are the entrances to the shuttles," said Inara, "If you ever need me, I live in that one over there. And to answer you're earlier question Alexis, I'm a Companion, which means that I have connections to the Alliance that they can use and I can use their shuttle to entertain clients. It is an understanding that we have."

"What's a companion?" whispered Esposito to Ryan.

"No idea," said Ryan.

They continued down the steps and saw a room they'd been in before, but was now empty of occupants.

"This is of course the infirmary," said Inara.

"Where's dad?" asked Alexis.

"He's wherever. Probably getting changed or something," said Kaylee.

They walked back up the stairs and through the kitchen to the very head of the ship.

"Hey River," greeted Kaylee, "This is the cockpit."

"Where are we going?" asked Beckett.

"To visit an old friend of mine," said Inara.

"An old Alliance friend," said a familiar voice behind them.

Alexis immediately ran up and gave her dad a hug, then she stepped back and looked at what he was wearing.

"Why are you wearing you're Halloween costume?" asked Alexis.

"I'm not. I'm wearing my old everyday clothes. Halloween was just an excuse for me to wear them once every year," explained Castle.

"Dude, tights? Seriously?" said Esposito.

"Have you looked at what you're wearing, Esposito? I wouldn't talk if I was you," said Castle.

"Yeah true," he replied sullenly.

"Have you filled them in on the plan?" Castle asked Inara and Kaylee.

"We were getting to that," said Kaylee.

"What plan?" asked Ryan.

"The plan to get you back home," said Castle.

"You have a plan? Since when?" asked Beckett.

"Since a couple of hours ago," said Castle.

"What is it?"

Castle explained to them the need to get the key cards, how they would need one for everyone who was leaving and they couldn't depend on that amount of cards to be in the building, how if they could they had to figure where the building was without the Alliance realizing they were after them.

Then he told them the plan and Beckett, Alexis and the boys were not very happy with him.


	11. Chapter 11

"I hate you so much Mal," said Inara into the earpiece.

"No you don't," replied Castle into his own earpiece.

"She's right Castle," said Beckett, "we hate you."

"All you gotta do is what you ladies do best," said Castle, "flirt."

"Hey! I am not a flirt," said Beckett.

"Sure you're not. Now stop talking to yourselves and be nice."

"I just wanted to put in that I hate you too Castle," said Ryan.

"Me too," said Esposito.

"Oh come on, you can't hate me! It's because of me that you're at _the _party of the year each with a gorgeous lady on your arm," said Castle slyly. They couldn't complain now without their partner taking it as an insult.

"Castle," said Ryan, "I'm engaged remember."

"Please, you cannot be feeling guilty about this!" said Esposito.

"You're engaged?" asked Inara, who was his 'partner' for the night.

"Yes."

"Congratulations!"

"Guys, not the time," said Beckett.

"Remind me why you guys couldn't do this?" asked Ryan.

"Well I'm a wanted man, I can't walk into a room full of officials that know my face. Simon and River can't either. We need River and Kaylee with the ship in case of the mighty need for a quick getaway, Zoe didn't want to do it and Jayne couldn't pass himself off as a gentleman even if his life depended on it."

"Oi!"

"It's true Jayne," said Zoe.

"Don't mean he has to say it," grumbled Jayne.

"Can't we just stop complaining and concentrate of the task," said Castle.

There were mumbled agreements and they fell silent. Vaguely Castle could hear Inara and Beckett making small talk with some official.

Jayne, Zoe and Castle crawled through the grass outside the mansion where the party was and waited for the camera's to turn away.

"Okay on three," whispered Zoe, "One…two…three!"

They sprinted as quietly as they could across the lawn and to under the security camera where it's lens couldn't see.

Castle silently went to the back door and picked the old fashion lock. Lucky for them this was an old mansion, so it wasn't full of high tech security. The camera was practically the only new thing; it had motion sensors on it.

"Okay, done," he whispered and they opened the door with guns out.

"Clear."

"Clear."

"Clear. Come on, accommodation's upstairs."

They weaved their way through corridors, taking stairs to the upper levels.

"Room 58. Room 58," Castle whispered, "Here. Inara if you're 'friend' was lying to us-"

"You can kill him later. Come on Mal," said Zoe and she quickly picked the lock.

"Who would go ta one of these gorram 'antique' parties?" asked Jayne, "I mean, security's horrible, it's practically tellin' us to break in and have a poke around."

"Doctor Valentino loves old things," said Castle, checking for any traps or security camera's.

"He tell you that did he?" asked Jayne.

"Jayne," said Castle looking at him, "He built a _time_ machine."

"So?"

"Nothing Jayne. Don't worry about it."

They looked some more, checking drawers, for the key cards but they were nowhere to be found.

"Okay, guys it's a negative. We can't find them. They're not up here."

"So we actually have to go through with this?" asked Beckett.

"Yes."

"Remind me why there is two of us?" asked Inara.

"The guys a scientist and a sucker for women, but he's still married. You're job is to make him an offer he can't refuse."

"I hate you."

"No you don't," he said in a singsong tone.

F_I_R_E_F_L_Y_C_A_S_T_L_E

"Okay," said Beckett, taking the microphone out of her ear discreetly.

"What are you doing?" asked Inara.

"You'll see."

She let go of Esposito's arm, and said, "Go to the toilet or something."

She walked towards the bar where her quarry was currently seated.

She sat down next to him and ordered a drink. He looked at her face and then down lower and then back up. So he's at least part-gentlemen, she thought.

"Hey," she said, playing with her drink which had arrived, "Where's your partner?"

"Oh, um, she, uh couldn't make it," he stuttered, "Where's that man you were with?"

"Watching me were you?" she asked slyly, a suggestive grin on her face.

"I um, er…"

"He's in the restroom, with some other chick probably," she said.

"Oh."

She acted as though she was thinking about it and said, "Do you know anyone here who's up to a little…fun?"

Over across the room, Inara said, "She's good. Not Companion good mind you, but good."

"What is a Companion? We asked Castle but he wouldn't tell us," asked Ryan.

"Companions are-"

"Whoa, don't answer that question!" said Mal hastily.

"Why? What did you do?" asked Inara, laughing.

"He called us Companions when we were stealing the shuttle," said Esposito who was hiding in the toilets.

"He called his daughter a Companion?" asked Inara.

"No I did not," said Mal, "And if you value your life you will not answer that question Inara."

"What is the Earth-That-Was comparison…" mumbled Inara.

"Hey! I said not to answer that question!"

"Oh I know! A prostitute isn't it?" answered Inara.

"Really?" asked Esposito, "You're a prostitute?"

"Mr Esposito, I am a Companion. Not a prostitute."

"Or Whore."

"Mal! You're daughters on the other line!" chastised Inara.

"She's used to me by now," said Mal.

"Hang on, she's your daughter?" asked Jayne.

"Yeah, didn't anyone tell you?" asked Mal.

"No!"

"I'm sure I told you, guys."

"No!"

"I found out from Alexis," said Zoe.

"Same here," said Kaylee and Inara at the same time.

"River told me," said Simon.

"Well noone gorram told me!" said Jayne indignantly.

"Well you know now," said Mal.

Then they heard the scraping of a chair and Inara saw out of the corner of her eye Kate standing up and whispering into her microphone, "Ryan scram!"

"I'm just going to go…over there," said Ryan, pointing to the bathroom.

"Inara," said Kate, giving her a hug, "He took the bait."

"Good," said Mal.

"By the way Castle," said Kate pretending to talk to her and point to Valentino who was watching them eagerly, "Prostitute?"

"I'm dead aren't I?"

"Yep," and then she laughed and hooked her arm in Inara's and they walked up the back, Valentino following.

They took separate elevators, since Valentino didn't want people to realize what he was doing, and because Kate didn't want things to get hot and heavy before they could spring the trap.

The walked into the room and were greeted by Mal pulling them to one side, a gun in his hand.

Then the door knob turned.

"Here we go," whispered Castle.

FIREFLYCASTLE

_**Hopefully the changing of POV wasn't too confusing. Please review!**_


	12. Chapter 12

It hadn't taken long to subdue Valentino. Him being a rather unfit man meant he was unable to fight off one person, let alone five.

They had him knocked unconscious and tied to a chair in less than five minutes.

"Start searching his pockets," commanded Castle, and Zoe immediately set to work.

"Nothing," she reported.

"Damn," Castle cursed, "I didn't think he would have them on him anyway. Esposito, Ryan, can you-"

"Monitor the hallways and let you know when someone's coming," finished Ryan.

"Yeah, we're already stationed Castle," said Esposito.

"Nnnn," came a moan from Valentino letting them know he was waking up.

Castle stalked towards the man and got up right in his face. He slapped him none too gently in the face to rouse him. When Valentino opened his eyes he was startled to see Castle and immediately tried to get away.

"Good to see you again Doctor Valentino," said Castle.

Recognition registered on Valentino's face and he said, "Sergeant Reynolds."

"For the last time, it's Captain now. Not Sergeant. Just Captain, wars over."

"Yeah well, things have changed in the last three years _Captain_," he said.

"Been a lot longer than three years for me Valentino," he said, "So tell me…where's the key cards?"

"The key cards? I don't know what you're talking about," he said resolutely. But as he said it a sheen of sweat appeared on his brow.

"We know they're not in this room," said Castle, "We know you don't have them on you. Where are they?"

"I'm not telling you anything," said Valentino.

"I think," said Castle, "That by the end of this you will."

He turned away and gestured to Jayne who got out a knife that looked razor edged but was in fact blunt.

Jayne approached him in a menacing manner, making the Doctor break.

"Okay, okay! I'll tell you! Just don't come at me with that thing!"

Castle strode forward and Jayne walked away. "Talk," said Castle.

"They keep them in a secure facility. I don't know where! Only a select few know where! I'm not one of them I swear! When we were working on it we were giving the cards and then they were taken off of us when we were finished! I swear!" he said quickly.

"'Were'?" asked Beckett, noticing the change in tense, "You're not working on it anymore?"

Valentino quickly shook his head, "No. We were replaced by other scientists because we couldn't figure out how to get back to the present day or how to get to the future. Only the past."

"Who knows the location of the facilities?" asked Castle.

"I-I don't know," said Valentino but it was the stutter that called his bluff.

Castle snapped his fingers and Jayne started to walk forward knife in hand when…

"Okay! Okay! I'll give you their names!" said Valentino.

"_Castle we got a problem,_" said Esposito, "_Security must have been tipped off or something because they're on their way. Now!_"

"Speak! Quickly!" demanded Castle.

"McDowell, Whitten and Gold. That's all I know!" he said.

_Bang! Bang!_

"Doctor Valentino!" said the muffled voice of the head of security from the other side of the door, "Are you alright?"

"Help! Help!" Valentino immediately yelled, "There are criminals in here! Help!"

Castle felt like hitting him but he refrained. Instead he said, "Let's get going! River, Kaylee, that quick getaway is needed!"

They ran over to the window and jumped out, one by one, falling into the bushes below.

"Esposito, Ryan! Meet us at the ship!" Castle yelled and together they ran across the lawn towards Serenity.

_**Okay so this is where things get interesting. I want the readers opinion on whether time should be linear or circular here. Linear is where things are in a straight line and you can go back and change things which will change the time line. Circular means that no matter what you do you cannot change time. No we are not going to go into alternative universes etc. **_

_**So review! Let me know you're opinion. **_


	13. Chapter 13

They were in the middle of space. Far from anything. They had heard nothing from Inara's informant concerning them, but that didn't mean much. After all he was low on the chain of command and had probably never heard that Castle was wanted in the first place.

Since they had escaped the mansion they decided to lay low for a bit which basically meant drifting through space. Serenity was filled with tension. Many of the people on board still didn't trust each other (cough Jayne cough) which caused strife.

They were having dinner when the most exciting thing to happen in the last three days happened.

"So _Richard Castle_," said Jayne, "You never did tell what you did on Earth-That-Was."

"Yeah I did," said Castle, "I help out the NYPD on Homicide cases."

"But that's not all you did, was it?" said Jayne, "I did some digging through the old databases. Did a search on 'Richard Castle' and guess what I happened across?"

When nobody replied Jayne continued, "I found out that Richard Castle was in fact," he sniggered, "And _Author_."

Around the table, the Serenity crew coughed and spluttered with surprise.

"An Author!" cried Kaylee.

"You write?" asked Simon.

"You can read?" asked Inara.

"Yes I can read!" said Castle defensively.

"What genre?" asked Simon.

"Crime," supplied Jayne.

"Yes crime!" said Castle, "There is nothing wrong with crime novels!"

"It's a bestseller too," said Jayne gleefully.

"Okay! So I write bestsellers! So?" said Castle, but he was ignored.

"And guess what I was able to find?" said Jayne, "They were such good bestsellers that they converted them to digital files when everyone moved to this solar system. Want to have a look."

"Yes!" yelled the crew and they all surged forward have a look.

They spent the next thrity minutes looking through Castle's work. When they recognized a name they made sure the Beckett, Esposito and Ryan and Alexis knew who they were really.

But then they found the Nikki Heat books...

"Wo de tian a! Did he seriously write a book about you?" Simon asked Beckett.

"I'm his muse," said Beckett, "I am not Nikki Heat."

"Certainly sounds like you," said Jayne, "And there's a sex scene too."

"I'm not Nikki Heat," said Beckett angrily, "She's only based off me."

Jayne then did the most idiotic thing he had ever done his life.

"You sure? Because she kinda sounds like a slu-"

Beckett then swung her arm around, hitting Jayne in the side of his head with her fist. She grabbed his arm which had instinctively been swung at her and twisted it around.

"Ow! Ow! You xiong meng de kung ren! Let me go!" he yelled.

"Never! Insult me again!" commanded Beckett.

"Okay! Okay!" yelled Jayne and Beckett let him go.

Beckett got up and left the room, muttering something about going to bed.

"Jayne-"

"Say. Nothing," said Jayne, going read.

_**omg I just watched the season finale of Season three of Castle. I'm not going to give anything away but gosh it was good. **_


	14. Chapter 14

Since the crew had found out about Castle's occupation he had been the butt of many jokes. After a while they found out about some of his other characters, which had sounded suspiciously like some of the various people they had come across on their jobs and couldn't help but make fun of that too.

Castle walked around the ship. His old clothes, from before he came to the past, didn't feel right anymore. He had come to wearing a mixture of Simon's and his old clothes. Jayne had, of course, noticed this straight away and had taken to making snide comments about this as well.

Overall, life on Serenity had gone from strained to normal.

Castle went to the kitchen out of habit. He knew there was no food in there. In a couple of days, they were landing on a planet called Santo. Castle was trying not to show it but he was nervous. This had been the planet he had gotten snatched on after all.

The others didn't know that. They didn't know how he had gotten caught. None of them did and they were never going to find out.

Castle tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach. It would do no good for people to realize that something was up. After all, it didn't matter what had happened in the past. It wouldn't be a problem. At least he hoped so.

**FIREFLYCASTLE**

Alexis was excited. Her, River and Kaylee were doing the shopping and Alexis couldn't wait to see some of the market places. She was looking at different types of apples when Alexis felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Excuse me, Miss Castle?"

Alexis turned, not immediately registering that they had used her real name, and not the fake one that Zoe had given her.

She felt a hand go over her mouth and she tried to scream. She looked around for Kaylee and River but couldn't find either one of them.

"Keep quiet," whispered the man in her ear, "Otherwise we'll kill your friends."

Alexis nodded as best she could, and then the man dragged her off.

**FIREFLYCASTLE**

Finally Castle worked up the courage to walk onto the planet once more. He walked over to the girls who were gathered around a stall in the market.

"Aren't you supposed to be looking at food, not jewellery?" asked Castle sneaking up behind them.

"We're just lookin' Cap'an," said Kaylee.

"Where's Alexis?" he asked.

"She's just over there," said Kaylee gesturing over her shoulder, still looking over at the necklace before her.

"Over where?" asked Castle.

"Over-"

"She's not there," said River, still surveying the wares before her.

"Then where is she?" asked Castle, getting worried.

River looked up and frowned, "The man took her."

Castle grabbed River by the forearm and dragged her a metre or so away.

"What man?" he asked urgently.

"He took her five minutes ago," said River.

"Why didn't you stop him?" asked Castle angrily.

"I didn't know until just now," said River.

"How could you not know!" he yelled.

River shook her head and walked away towards the ship.

"Come," she yelled back.

**CASTLEFIREFLY**

Alexis didn't know where she was. If it was one thing about this situation that scared her it was that fact. She was tied up and blindfolded but the one thing that scared her was the fact that she didn't know where she was.

"You're one messed up kid Alexis," Alexis said to herself.

Then she heard a door open with an earsplitting shriek and she found herself being dragged out of the room.

"Let me go!" she shouted over and over again. Then she was thrown into a chair her blindfold being lifted off her head and her hands untied.

She was in an old dingy office. Across the counter from her was an old man, with hardly any hair. She was about to ask who he was when he spoke.

"Hello Alexis," he said in a Russian accent, "I'm hoping to do some business with you. I assure you, you have nothing to fear. My name is Mr Niska."


	15. Chapter 15

Mal dragged River on board Serenity, trying to not draw attention to himself. River did not need to read his mind in order to know that he was terrified.

"Back so soon?" asked Zoe as they entered the kitchen.

"Where's the food?" asked Jayne.

"Shut up Jayne," snapped Mal, "Tell me everything you know."

Mal was staring at her intently, fear written all over his face.

"What's going on?" asked Inara, entering the room.

"I was about to ask the same question," said Zoe.

"Alexis is gone," said River, "The man took her."

"Took her?" asked Simon entering the room, "Took who?"

"Alexis," snapped Mal.

And then in a haze of confusion she suddenly saw something. But as always with this sort of thing it quickly began to slip away.

"He was his pawn," said River, trying to get the image back, "He didn't know that he was to be punished. He thought he'd been forgiven of his mistake."

"Who? I need a name River!" said Mal shaking her shoulders roughly.

"Mal let go of her!" yelled Simon, protective of her as always, "You know that it doesn't always work!"

"It needs to work now!" yelled Mal, refusing Simon's orders. Once upon a time, he would have got up him for shouting orders on his ship, but things had changed now.

She concentrated as she had that day that Mal had gone missing. She had been next to useless then. She hated being useless.

"A chamber," she whispered, "As was her father before her."

"Do you mean I've been there before?" asked Mal, getting more worried by the second.

Then she knew something. Something that would happen without a doubt.

"He'll send for us."

_**C_A_S_T_L_E_F_I_R_E_F_L_Y**_

Alexis was intrigued by Niska. He was polite and civil to her. He offered her tea and food (which she politely refused of course), by all accounts he was being a gentleman. Apart from the kidnapping though, she didn't think that was very nice at all.

"Why am I here?" she asked quietly.

"I told you," said Niska, "I'm here to do some business with you."

"But I…I don't have anything to give you or anything," she said, confused.

"Not to worry," he said in his Russian accent, reminding her of a mafia boss, "That is not the purpose of you being here."

"What is my purpose?" she asked.

"Does anyone really know their purpose?" he asked, twisting her words, "But nevertheless I will tell you the reason you are here. Tea?"

"No thank-you," she said.

He smiled and lowered the tea-pot he had been holding up, "You father has taught you well," he said.

"My father?" she asked.

"Yes your father. Richard Castle, or as we call him, Malcolm Reynolds," he said.

"How do you know my father?" she asked.

"We did some business a while back," he said, "I was hoping we could start up where we left off."

"Why not just contact him. Why kidnap me?" she asked.

"Because he would not have come otherwise," he said, "We parted ways on a sour note."

"Okay…um…how do you know my name?" she asked.

"Please child, anyone with half a brain can connect the dots," he said, "As I'm sure you know, your father got snatched by the government and sent back in time. It was made public that he had been sent where no one could find him so as to diminish the Independent's spirits. It had the opposite affect or course, but that doesn't matter. As soon as I found this out I immediately went to find out where we had got to. I found out about him going to the past. I knew that as all the history from Earth-that-was was digitalised. All I had to do was some research and I was able to see what had happened to your father. It didn't take me long to find out about you. Then when I heard he was back, I sent out in search of him. I couldn't find him so I found you."

"What do you want with my father?" she asked, getting cold feeling.

"Business," he said smiling.

**F_I_R_E_F_L_Y_C_A_S_T_L_E**

Eventually Castle stopped questioning River. When Beckett, Esposito and Ryan came up to see what the noise was about, Zoe filled them in. Castle sat down and put his hands on his head. The only thing they knew was that he had been at the place that she was being held, which didn't help them in the slightest.

"Aww, it'll be alright Cap'ain," said Kaylee, "We'll find her before anythin' can happen to her."

"She's right bro," said Esposito, "We'll find her. You got three detectives here."

Then an alarm sounded.

"What does that mean?" asked Ryan.

"It means someone's trying to call us," said Zoe.

They all ran to the cockpit and Zoe clicked speak.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hello," came a familiar voice. Castle clicked the video button and Niska's face filled the screen.

"Ah, Mr Reynolds," he said, "Or should I call you Mr Castle?"

_**Sorry I'm a day late. I had work and I was just too tired to do anything. So what do you think? Did I do okay with River's POV? I hope so. She's really hard to write. **_

_**So I might sound like an idiot asking this coz I can't remember if I've asked it in a different chapter, but does anyone know what the Independent and the Alliance were fighting about?**_ **I know it's about the Government. I thought maybe it's about all the different countries from Earth joining together under one government or not. Help?**


	16. Chapter 16

"You!" yelled Castle.

"I will assume you like to go by Mr Castle now," said Niska.

"What the hell have you done with my daughter!" he screamed at the man.

"Do not worry, she has been unharmed," said Niska, "Now to business. I have a proposition for you Mr Castle."

"Oh yeah? What's that?" asked Beckett.

Niska smiled and said, "I will give you back Alexis _and_ I will give you the information you need to find those key cards that you've been searching for _if_ you surrender yourself to me."

"And what if I don't?" asked Castle.

"If you do not then you will never see your daughter again and her unharmed status might change," threatened Niska, a smile still taking up his face.

"I'll need time to think about it," said Castle.

"Not too long I should think," said Niska, "After all she is your daughter. I'd hate for her to get the idea that you don't care about her."

Then the screen went black and they were left in silence.

"What are our options?" asked Inara. They were gathered in the kitchen now and everyone was keyed up.

"We could break her out," said Simon.

"We don't know where she is," said Zoe, "It would be next to impossible to find her."

They continued to argue but Castle stayed silent. Beckett (ever in tune with Castle's emotions) walked over to him and sat next to him.

"You okay?" she asked.

"No," he said softly.

"She'll be okay," said Beckett, "We'll think of something. You've got a lot of good people here and they all care about Alexis."

Castle stared off into space and said, "There's only one thing to do."

"Castle you can't give him what he wants," said Beckett, "You know that criminals never keep to their bargains."

"Niska isn't your ordinary criminal," said Castle, "If you make him a deal he'll stick to it. We've dealt with him before in a similar situation."

"But Rick you _can't_," said Beckett.

"I've already made my decision."

_**Extremely short chapter. I'm very sorry for the wait I've just been really busy. I should update again sooner than I did last time. I'm meant to update every two weeks on Friday but sometimes that doesn't work out the way I want it to. **_


	17. Chapter 17

An hour had passed and still they didn't know what to do.

"That's enough," said Castle standing between Zoe and Simon who were still fighting about whether trying to break her out was a good idea or not.

The room went quiet for the first time since Niska's call.

"He's going to call back soon," said Castle, "And we still have no idea what's going to go down!"

"There isn't a lot we can do," said Esposito, "I'm sorry Castle but it doesn't look good."

"You're all looking for a way to break her out. But that's not the only option," he said.

"Yes it is," said Beckett, "You are not giving into his demands."

"Yes I am," he said.

"Castle you can't!" said Ryan.

"Just listen…"

_**Castle_Firefly_ylferiF_eltsaC**_

"Ah Mr Castle, have you come to a decision?" asked Niska half an hour later.

"Yes. I agree to your terms," he said solemnly.

"Excellent! I'm glad we could come to an agreement," he said.

"Where do we meet?" he asked.

"Regina," he said.

"Could you give us a bit more info please? Regina's a big planet," said Castle.

"We will be…hard to miss," he said.

And then the screen went black once more.

"Captain we can't go to Regina," said Zoe immediately.

"We all agreed to do this Zoe," said Castle impatiently.

"No sir, you don't understand," said Zoe, "We can't go because that planet was taken over by Reaver's two months ago."

_**Okay so sorry for taking so long but the USB where I kept everything failed and a lot of other stuff happened and…it's been difficult to write. But this is up and I'll be back to updating regularly once more. **_


	18. Chapter 18

_**Sorry for the shit chapter before. I got two reviews and just thought 'Crap. That was such a horrible piece of writing. I'm disappointing people. Crap. Gotta write another one' so here we go. Hopefully this will live up to expectations and make up for the last one. Sorry.**_

It took them hours but finally they worked out a plan.

"There's only one area that they could possibly be," said Zoe, "And that's this town here. It has the most cover and is easily defendable with the right amount of guards, which we know Niska has. We'll have to get in there somehow."

Castle had not been happy with that 'we' and had been quick to point it out.

"No way are you going out there alone," said Inara immediately, "You'll die."

He had protested but they wouldn't listen.

Which is why, he decided, he had to do this. They didn't realize exactly how much Alexis meant to him. None of them had children. They couldn't imagine the pain he was going through.

And that was why he was currently trying to keep as quiet as possible as he snuck into the spare shuttle.

He was about to take off when he heard someone climb into the shuttle.

"Beckett? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"What? You didn't think you could leave without me?" she said, sitting down in the passenger seat.

"You can't come with me. It's too dangerous," he practically pleaded.

"Well," she said, turning to face him, "whether you like it or not… I'm your plucky sidekick and I'm coming."

"Plucky sidekick always get killed," he said, trying to stop himself from grinning.

"Partner then," she said smiling.

And he looked forward and started the engines.

_**C_A_S_T_L_E_F_I_R_E_F_L_Y**_

They landed in some undergrowth a far way away from the town, but it was the closest they could get to it without being seen.

At first they just strolled. Both were ready to attack at any moment but, as no one was in sight they merely walked in silence.

"Castle?" Beckett said after walking for nearly half an hour, "You said you've dealt with this guy before."

"I did," Castle confirmed.

"Well…what happened?" she asked.

Castle opened his mouth to say something- though what he was going to say he didn't know- when he heard a twig snap.

"Get down," he whispered.

They sheltered behind a nearby bush. It was starting to get dark on this planet, which was bad. It meant they had to be aware of their shadows. The sun was probably giving them away but they could do nothing but stay a still as possible.

Then whoever it was walked away.

Castle peered over the edge of the bush to take a look.

"A reaver," he whispered, "Non too bright but mighty deadly predators. Come on, let's go."

They walked in the shadows after that. There were many close calls but none like the first. Then they saw a plain human being. A sentry.

"Well this is it," he said.

"See you later Castle," said Beckett, giving him a hug.

"Goodbye Kate."

And he continued on.


	19. Chapter 19

Castle entered the camp with his hands raised. Immediately guards of varying ages surrounded him, their weapons drawn. Some looked bored while others looked strangely excited. Well, Castle conceded, they'd probably been standing in a barren wasteland for the last day or so. They were probably excited just to be doing something.

He was escorted inside the deserted town and through to an underground set of tunnels.

He was led through many twists and turns. At first he had wondered why he hadn't been blindfolded already but now he reasoned that in this maze, he wouldn't know which way was up anyway.

Soon they reached their destination. It was a square room with a single desk and three chairs, one of which was occupied by his daughter.

"Alexis!" he cried, rushing forward, unhindered by guards to give his daughter a hug.

"Daddy," she whispered in his ear, "what are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you," he whispered back.

"Ah! How touching," said Niska from behind the desk.

"You have me," said Castle, holding Alexis' arm, "Now let her go."

"Please, sit," said Niska, "You will both leave soon enough."

"Both?" asked Castle, confused.

"Yes. Both of you," said Niska, "As I said to you, I only wish to do business."

"But I killed you're right hand man," said Castle, "Aren't you out for revenge?"

"I already got my revenge Mr Castle," said Niska, "You and I both know that. Now sit."

Almost robotic-like they sat. Castle was confused, but willing to see this out.

"Now first things first," said Niska, rummaging in a drawer, "Ah! Here they are. Two key-cards."

He handed the authentic looking key-cards to Alexis who took them quickly, searching for any signs of forgery even though they didn't know what the real cards would look like.

"Now," said Niska, "I have a job for you."

"A job?" asked Castle warily.

"Yes," he said, "When you go back to the past, I want you to kill this man."

He handed Castle a picture of a man in a crisp suit with thinning hair.

"Why?" he asked.

"Why should it matter. You get your daughter back, you get to go home, and all you have to do is promise me you will kill this man when you get there."

"Who was he?" asked Alexis.

"None of that matters," said Niska, "Do we have a deal?"

Castle looked at Alexis and said, "Yeah. We do."

"Beckett!" came a Castle's voice from behind her, making her jump.

"Castle? How'd you get out alive? I was about to go in there and rescue you," she said.

He explained all that had gone down and showed her the picture.

"Do you know who he is?" asked Castle.

"No," said Beckett shaking her head, "I've never seen him before."

"You're not going to actually kill him are you?" asked Alexis.

"Well you know what they say Alexis," said Castle, walking towards the shuttle, "No honour among thieves."


	20. Chapter 20

Castle steered the shuttle into the port on the side of Serenity. He turned off the engine and stood, holding onto Alexis tightly they climbed through the door to see the rest of the crew waiting for them. The reception was mixed, varying from anger at their disappearance and relief that they were all alive. Castle explained to them what had happened and proceeded to pass around the photo they were given.

"And you have no idea who he is?" asked Inara.

"Nope. None," replied Castle.

"Captain could I speak with you for a moment?" asked Zoe briskly.

"Yeah sure," said Castle, confused as to what this was about.

He followed her to the hallway before the cockpit, she turned around and said, "I want to know you're intentions."

"What? What intentions?" he asked.

"Do you plan to stay here or go back with _them_?" she asked rather coldly.

"What kind of question is that?" he asked angrily.

"One which you refuse to answer it would seem," she said, "I just want the truth."

"I…I," he stuttered, "I…I don't know okay?"

"Well that's just not good enough," she said, "Things have changed around here Mal. The war has started up again and before you lot came along we were supposed to be fighting with the Browncoats. I've just got a message from them, saying that if we don't start up the campaign again we're going to become enemies. You may be the Captain for the moment but if you're going to leave us then I need to know so I can prepare for the future. They know you're back, they want _you_ to lead them into battle. I need to know what to tell them."

"Well you can tell them to shove it up their ass!" he shouted, "I don't fight no more."

Zoe took a deep breath, as though to calm herself, "Look. They've given us some time, but I need to know. If need be…maybe we can make an appearance, and then leave. Say we're on some special ops and have to go underground."

"What am I meant to do with Alexis while I'm fighting a war then aye?" he asked.

"She could always join the troops-"

"No way is my daughter fighting in a war," he said in a deathly whisper.

"Then we'll figure something out. I just need to know-"

"What I'm doing. Yeah I got it the first time," he said. Zoe nodded and then walked out of the hallway, looking as though she regretted yelling.

No sooner had she left than Beckett appeared around the corner. "Hey," she said, "What was that about?"

"Nothing," he answered quickly, "Just a…argument. It's been a long day. I'm going to bed."

"Okay," she said, confused, "Um, goodnight?"

"Goodnight," he said as he descended the steps to his room, knowing he would be getting no sleep.


	21. Chapter 21

Life on board Serenity had become very different since they had returned. Beckett didn't know why, but Zoe and Castle had suddenly stopped talking to one another.

Esposito and Ryan had spent most of their time in the database, trying to find out who the mystery man was. But so far, all they could come up with was a partial face recognition from 2034.

Alexis had taken to hanging out with Kaylee and River. They were the closest to her age, and it meant she didn't have to be alone so much.

Beckett, however, liked to be alone in the space shuttle that was currently not being used. It was peaceful, and from it she could watch the stars.

She was doing just that when she was joined by Inara.

"I hope you don't mind," she said. "But I saw you come in here and I thought maybe you'd like some company."

"I don't mind," lied Beckett.

Inara sat down in the co-pilot's seat and stared out into space with her.

"So how did you meet Mal?" asked Inara, breaking the silence.

"I was working a case," said Beckett. "The killer was copying scenes from his books."

Inara laughed softly, "Of course. Malcolm Reynolds. A writer. Never in all my years on board this ship would I ever think that Mal would become a writer."

"How did you two meet?" asked Beckett, giving up on the idea of silence.

"He put up an ad for someone who wanted to rent a space shuttle, I accepted."

"Really that simple huh?" asked Beckett.

"Surprisingly, yes," said Inara. "Of course, nothing was ever that simple again. Especially after River and Simon joined us."

"What's the deal with them?" asked Beckett.

"They're fugitives," said Inara. "They're running from the Alliance, so Mal took them in."

"River seems a bit…off," said Beckett, hoping not to offend.

"Well after everything that happened to her it's to be expected," said Inara, still gazing at the open void.

"What happened to her exactly?" asked Beckett cautiously.

Inara looked at Beckett, "Mal didn't tell you?"

"No."

"When River was a child she was experimented on by the Alliance. They performed surgery on her brain. Simon said that they had done something to this bit of your brain that allows you to push back emotions," said Inara, a disgusted tone in her voice.

"That's horrible," said Beckett. "Why would they do such a thing?"

"It made her psychic."

"Psychic!" exclaimed Beckett.

"Yes," said Inara. "It is a terrible burden that she carries."

"But psychic's aren't real," said Beckett. She thought back to that case they had had, Castle had been so adamant that it was possible they really were psychic's.

"Believe me, it's real. And from what we can tell, River's not the only one they experimented on," said Inara.

They lapsed into another silence. But this time, Beckett couldn't wait to break it. There were so many things she wanted to know, and she had a feeling the only person that would ever be willing to tell her anything would be Inara.

"Who's Alexis's mother?" asked Inara suddenly.

"Uh, his first ex-wife," said Beckett, wondering where all this was coming from.

"'First' ex-wife? How many has he had?" asked Inara.

"Two, Alexis's mother and his publisher, Gina," said Beckett.

"Well then, he's technically had three," said Inara.

"What? Was he married here?" asked Beckett, looking at Inara intently.

"Well, sort of," said Inara grinning. "It's quite funny actually. We were on this planet and Mal being Mal, got very drunk and accidently got married to this girl. Must of only just been twenty."

"What?" said Beckett, grinning.

"I know. As it turns out she was actually out to try to kill us all," said Inara.

"Oh," said Beckett at the sudden turn of events. "It's never a dull moment aboard Serenity is it?"

"Believe me," said Inara. "It never is."

**MERRY CHRISTMAS!**

**I hope you all like my gift! I will be updating again soon, so look out for it. **

**Please Review! I love to hear from you guys. **


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